Carlos Slim Tops Forbes List of Billionaires for Second Year

March 10 (Bloomberg) -- Carlos Slim remained the world’s
richest person for a second year with estimated assets of $74
billion, according to Forbes magazine’s annual global ranking of
billionaires.

The net worth of Mexico’s Slim, 71, whose holdings include
the largest mobile phone operator in the Americas, rose $20.5
billion. Bill Gates, 55, chairman of Redmond, Washington-based
Microsoft Corp., was second again as his net worth rose $3
billion to $56 billion. Warren Buffett, 80, chief executive
officer of Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire Hathaway Inc., held
on to third place with $50 billion.

There were a record number of billionaires in 2011, with
1,210 in total, compared with the previous high of 1,125 in
2008. Of the 214 newcomers this year, 54 were from China and 31
from Russia. The Asia-Pacific region had more billionaires than
Europe for the first time in more than 10 years and gained the
most billionaires of any region, with 105 newcomers. Moscow
displaced New York as the city with the greatest number of
billionaires with 79, compared with New York’s 58.

“The big global story is not the individuals so much as
what’s happening with the so-called BRICs,” referring to
Brazil, Russia, India and China, “and the Asia-Pacific
region,” said Forbes Media Editor-in-Chief Steve Forbes, in a
press conference announcing the results yesterday.

Slim’s net worth jumped more than any other billionaire
compared with 2010, Forbes said. “It wasn’t even close this
year,” he said.

Slim’s Holdings

Slim’s America Movil SAB is the biggest mobile-phone
company in the Americas, with 225 million wireless subscribers.
The company also controls Mexico’s largest landline phone
carrier, Telefonos de Mexico SAB, and the largest TV and long-distance operators in Brazil, as well as phone and video
carriers in Colombia, Peru and other South American countries.

His holdings in Mexico extend from retail, with the
Sanborns department store chain, to banking and construction. He
holds stakes in U.S. companies including the New York Times Co.,
Saks Inc. and Bronco Drilling Co. Slim’s gains in 2010 included
his bank Grupo Financiero Inbursa SAB, which surged 42 percent
as it expanded its branches, and Grupo Carso SAB, which almost
doubled as it prepared for spinoffs of its mining and real-estate units.

Gates founded Microsoft in 1975 after dropping out of
Harvard University and since then the company has become the
world’s largest software maker. Gates’ holdings include about
581 million shares of Microsoft, according to filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. The stock lost 0.5 percent
during the past year as of Feb. 14, the date the rankings are
based on.

Buffett’s Net Worth

Buffett holds about $45 billion, or about 90 percent of his
net worth, in Berkshire Hathaway A shares, which gained 12
percent over the past year through Feb. 14. Buffett has taken a
salary of $100,000 for each of the last 30 years, according to a
spokeswoman.

Mark Zuckerberg, the 26-year-old cofounder and chief
executive officer of social-networking website Facebook Inc.
jumped to 52nd this year from 212th place last year.

“The billionaires list, while it is a rarified universe,
does reflect the enormous changes apparent in the global
economy,” said Forbes.

Asia’s Billionaires

The richest person from Asia, Lakshmi Mittal, 60, chief
executive officer of the world’s largest steelmaker,
ArcelorMittal, fell to sixth from fifth as his net worth
increased $2.4 billion to $31.1 billion.

Robin Li, 42, the richest person in China excluding Hong
Kong, rose to 95th from 258th in 2010 as his net worth jumped
$5.9 billion to $9.4 billion. Li is the chief executive officer
of Internet search site Baidu Inc. Li Ka-shing, 82, remains the
richest person in Hong Kong with $26 billion, up $5 billion from
2010 and was 11th overall. Li’s companies have interests in
shipping, energy, telecommunications and retail.

Vladimir Lisin, 54, the richest person in Russia, rose to
14th place from 32nd in 2010 as his net worth increased $8.2
billion to $24 billion. Lisin owns OAO Novolipetsk Steel, based
in Lipetsk, Russia.

Reliable Numbers

Forbes doesn’t disclose the exact methodology of its
rankings, which are based on publicly available holdings in
addition to privately obtained information, and considers
financial assets, real estate and collectibles. The list was
based on the value of holdings as of the close of U.S. markets
on Feb. 14.

“We often get asked how reliable are our numbers,” said
Luisa Kroll, senior editor for Forbes. “It’s our job to figure
out who are the people that are trying to pump up their numbers
and who are the people that are trying to hide their numbers.”

Of the billionaires on this year’s list, 648 saw their net
worth increase and 160 saw their net worth decrease. Among the
newcomers was Mark Pincus, founder of San Francisco-based Zynga
Inc., creator of FarmVille. The average net worth of the
billionaires was $3.7 billion, up from $3.5 billion in 2010.

The $4.5 trillion held by billionaires on the Forbes list
represents about 2.3 percent of the world’s wealth. The Credit
Suisse Research Institute, based in Zurich, estimated the
world’s households had about $195 trillion in assets last year.

Lead Shrinking

No one region dominated the rankings. The U.S. had the
greatest representation, with 34 percent, followed by the Asia-Pacific region with 27 percent.

“This year, the United States is still number one but the
lead is shrinking,” said Forbes. Ten years ago U.S. residents
accounted for about 50 percent of the list, he said. “The trend
is very real.”

Also on the top-ten list was Spain’s Amancio Ortega,
founder of Inditex SA, the world’s largest clothing retailer
whose properties include Zara, with $31 billion. Mukesh Ambani,
chairman of Mumbai-based Reliance Industries Ltd., fell five
spots and $2 billion to ninth, with $27 billion. American
Christy Walton, of the family that controls Wal-Mart Stores
Inc., was 10th with $26.5 billion.

Facebook Billionaires

Zuckerberg’s net worth made the largest percentage gain of
any billionaire, more than tripling to $13.5 billion from $4
billion. Palo Alto, California-based Facebook was valued at $50
billion in January by Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

The Facebook magnate was displaced as the youngest
billionaire by Facebook cofounder Dustin Moskovitz, who has $1.4
billion. Others on the list with connections to Facebook include
Peter Thiel, Sean Parker, Eduardo Saverin and Yuri Milner.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, 69, fell to 30th
from 23rd with $18.1 billion. The mayor is founder and majority
owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP.

Japan was notable for its relatively small presence on the
list compared with the size of its economy, said Forbes.

“Twenty years ago Japan was said to take over the world.
Today it is not even holding its own,” said Forbes. “So things
do change.”